August 4, 2008
June 13, 2008
May 21, 2008
I made it :-)
IIM Indore : Admission Offered
IIM Kozhikode: Admission Offered
IIM Lucknow: Admission Offered
IIM Calcutta: Waitlisted
and it feels great!!! I hope the wailist at C also gets converted, though the chances look bleak. Nonetheless, I'm heading to IIM L in case it doesnt.
April 11, 2008
Yeh hain Quota-istan meri jaan...
THE ANT & GRASSHOOPER:
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant 's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant ' s house . Medha Patkar and Tan Shyamoli goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) . Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers. Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'. Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act ' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter. Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services. The Ant; fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes; its home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV. Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice '. Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden'. Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly. Many years later The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley. 100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India .... because of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the Grasshoppers, India is still a developing country!!!
Though hilarious, I can emphathize with the Ant of this story.. Now just me..there would be thousands others is a similar situation because the SC decided to upheld the OBC quota implementation and that too just one day before the IIM comes up with the final offers. I wont make this post longer by discussing how bad (for the country at large) or how good (for the OBC's) or how effective is this new law coz that has been all said soo many times already, but thinking about all of this has answered so many questions for which I didn have commensurate reasons earlier.
Some relevant/interestig links:
IBN Live Chat
The NDTV's version
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant 's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant ' s house . Medha Patkar and Tan Shyamoli goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter. Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) . Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers. Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'. Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act ' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter. Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services. The Ant; fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes; its home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV. Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice '. Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden'. Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly. Many years later The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley. 100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India .... because of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the Grasshoppers, India is still a developing country!!!
Though hilarious, I can emphathize with the Ant of this story.. Now just me..there would be thousands others is a similar situation because the SC decided to upheld the OBC quota implementation and that too just one day before the IIM comes up with the final offers. I wont make this post longer by discussing how bad (for the country at large) or how good (for the OBC's) or how effective is this new law coz that has been all said soo many times already, but thinking about all of this has answered so many questions for which I didn have commensurate reasons earlier.
Some relevant/interestig links:
IBN Live Chat
The NDTV's version
March 31, 2008
And it rained that night!!
It'd been a long long time. Well, atleast it felt like a long time since i'd last seen you and all i had was the one week to make up for the couple of months of seperation!! It wasn't enough. It was never meant to suffice, but it'll do. It'll do for now. Though there was all that load of work, I'm glad we got the time to be with each other..I'm glad that we were together in the real sense of the word, despite all the things that had put us apart all along. It's not like these factors will stop seperating us, but atleast now i know that we can fight and overcome them at will..I'm glad that you came despite all the things that tried to hold you back...I'm glad that you show faith in me and my decisions and stand by me all the time..I'm glad that we are as close as we are..and I'm also glad because there's nothing else that I can do other than being glad when i think of the time we had.
There have been relations, some strong, some weak. Some were meant to fade away and some lasted through it all. Some seem to be falling apart and some have nothing but a thin line of hope that just binds me with the other person.. There are times when I've felt weak and then again there are moments that reinforce me. I had thought that i had seen it all, but it's something entirely different when I am with you. It's something that I do not have the words to explain, but its amazing.
I wanted all of this, but the words never came and all I did was what i thought would best describe this to you.. thinking about this makes me miss you all the more, as if i didn miss u enough already!!
Well...Life wouldn't have been as special as it is, if you wouldn't be around..
There have been relations, some strong, some weak. Some were meant to fade away and some lasted through it all. Some seem to be falling apart and some have nothing but a thin line of hope that just binds me with the other person.. There are times when I've felt weak and then again there are moments that reinforce me. I had thought that i had seen it all, but it's something entirely different when I am with you. It's something that I do not have the words to explain, but its amazing.
I wanted all of this, but the words never came and all I did was what i thought would best describe this to you.. thinking about this makes me miss you all the more, as if i didn miss u enough already!!
Well...Life wouldn't have been as special as it is, if you wouldn't be around..
March 19, 2008
Arbit philosophy...
As i stood there, scared out of my wits, horrified, petrified....somehow no word gives the correct description of what i was feeling then, but i was sure that it was something like 'scared'. I looked down.I was standing tall, high and above all other living creatures, surrounded by nothingness but the wild winds and light.Suddenly i realised how islands feel surrounded all around by water and nowhere to go.It's kind of a scary thing to be all lone and see nothing when u look around yourself.How would it be to live all your life like how i was then?? i was still scared and it was not before now that i realised that my feet were trembling. I tried to control it, for lack of balance was something totally unnecessary at such heights.
Looking down didn feel so nice, so i gave a try and looked in the opposite direction, towards the sky.It was comforting, the same view that i've been used to seeing all my life. It was the same sky i had seen for hours together since my childhood, and it didn look any different at all..the trembling of my legs stopped.The sky seemed to be the same, even though to distance between me and the sky had been reduced so much by the heights i had reached. It felt something like the horizon, no matter how much u chased it it would always elude you, and its somethin that can never be reached.No matter how much you run towards it, the distance never seems to reduce.Suddenly i again realised the height at which i was located and the fear came back. I closed my eyes and tried to think of something else.i tried talkin and tried to comfort myself, but deep down i knew the fall was inevitable.
I looked up once again, looked down and jumped...I know its an absurd story, and seems meaningless but when you think a bit about it it reveals a lot...like...
1) The higher u go in life, the lonelier you will get.Its like a pyramid, the higher you go the lesser the people you find, and if the people at the bottom never existed there would be a pyramid at all. Everyone has a job to do in a society, and positions are always relative.You cant be the king unless there are subjects that let you lead them.
2) There is no upper limit for sucess, and no matter how much you learn and earn, there's always room for more, also i think the more you get the more you want some more of it.
3) Looking above(future) is always a better thing to do than taking a look down (the past). You can make something out of ur future but past is something you cant go back and change a thing.
4) Fear is not a sign of cowardice. It is fear that allows us be brave and dignified in the face of life's situations. Someone who experiences fear -and despite the fear goes on, without allowing it to intimidate him -is giving proof of valiance. But someone who tackles difficult situations without taking the danger into account, is proving only his irresponsibility.
5) One day everything will come to an end, you will have to die, no matter what plans you have, no matter what you want to do, death is inevitable. 'Jumping' is another way of accepting it.
Felt like reposting it after reading this from my old blog :=D
Looking down didn feel so nice, so i gave a try and looked in the opposite direction, towards the sky.It was comforting, the same view that i've been used to seeing all my life. It was the same sky i had seen for hours together since my childhood, and it didn look any different at all..the trembling of my legs stopped.The sky seemed to be the same, even though to distance between me and the sky had been reduced so much by the heights i had reached. It felt something like the horizon, no matter how much u chased it it would always elude you, and its somethin that can never be reached.No matter how much you run towards it, the distance never seems to reduce.Suddenly i again realised the height at which i was located and the fear came back. I closed my eyes and tried to think of something else.i tried talkin and tried to comfort myself, but deep down i knew the fall was inevitable.
I looked up once again, looked down and jumped...I know its an absurd story, and seems meaningless but when you think a bit about it it reveals a lot...like...
1) The higher u go in life, the lonelier you will get.Its like a pyramid, the higher you go the lesser the people you find, and if the people at the bottom never existed there would be a pyramid at all. Everyone has a job to do in a society, and positions are always relative.You cant be the king unless there are subjects that let you lead them.
2) There is no upper limit for sucess, and no matter how much you learn and earn, there's always room for more, also i think the more you get the more you want some more of it.
3) Looking above(future) is always a better thing to do than taking a look down (the past). You can make something out of ur future but past is something you cant go back and change a thing.
4) Fear is not a sign of cowardice. It is fear that allows us be brave and dignified in the face of life's situations. Someone who experiences fear -and despite the fear goes on, without allowing it to intimidate him -is giving proof of valiance. But someone who tackles difficult situations without taking the danger into account, is proving only his irresponsibility.
5) One day everything will come to an end, you will have to die, no matter what plans you have, no matter what you want to do, death is inevitable. 'Jumping' is another way of accepting it.
Felt like reposting it after reading this from my old blog :=D
February 3, 2008
My Interview experiences
ISB: Rejected
Ross: Rejected
Duke: Rejected
Darden: Wait listed
NUS: Shortlisted for interview - Interviewed - Waitlisted
I was asked about my Job profile...i started talking...felt very weird...there was no response from the other end...in between i thought that the call got disconnected also :-(...somehow completed the answer...but i wasn't comfortable with this way of interview at all... Then i was asked about the challenges i face..i talk...am cut half way and asked some thing about American healthcare..i asnwer...then they ask me about an asian business leader that i admire...i think think...and talk about the founder of Toyota...and talk a couple of lines about lean manufacturing and 5 why analysis which he came up with...thats it...15 min and end of interview... and they waitlist me..I have heard that they waitlist evryone after a certain date coz they are not sure of the numbr of admits they give...
I am not at all happy with the admission process followed here...There have been people who applied after me and have admits before i have been interviewed too!!! Thats very unfair to say the least...
In fact I am disappointed with the way in which all the US B schools handle the admissions process...They do not give any kind of an status update till the very last minute...they hardly ever respond to the e mails in time...the interview calls are chaotically given...the responses always say things like" as we have had unprecedented number of applicants this year.....blah blah..." WTF!!! I dont care how many people have applied...Is it even my headache...But when this XYZ b school takes 180 off $'s as application fees i feel they have an obligation to atleast keep me updated about what is happening with my application...and finally...If a school cannot manage its application process...it doesnt show too well about the kind of managers that it will churn out...Atleast a B school has to manage the application procedure better than other institutions...but as it turns out the converse is true more often than not...
IIM I: GD and Interview (12th Feb @ IIM B)
GD was a case study of a person who wants his company to change its age old strategy to reap benefits in the current scenario, but his boss is a traditional fool who fails to understand his juniors suggestions... I did well...Spoke reasonably well and spoke good amount of sense..
Interview started with thermodynamics and moved to non-conventional sources of energy..then went to my hobbies...IPL vs ICL..What would i do if i were Mukesh Ambani...blah blah... and then to stock markets...
IIM L: GD and Interview (23rd Feb @ B'lore)
Essay writing topic: Men without deeds are like a garden full of weeds (WTF!!!)
I scratch my head and try thinking...I try this exerciss for a minute and realise that its no use and just start putting down on paper whatever comes to my head..I use all examples that come to my mind..Mhmd.Yousif...gramin bank..Al Gore..Climate change...Ratan tata...Nano....and then i start digressing (just like my blogs) into more of a lecture mode (Rajni would know a lot about this :-P) and instruct the teachers, studnts and the entire community at large...make weird analogies between garden and human mind...talk about human value system...and time's up..
GD: We were supposed to discuss about the same topic (man...this is getting too much for me)...Some guy starts off in a tangential manner...and i am too bored already to bring him in the right direction...a minute passes by and people are talking like politicians...i draw up all my patience and composure and enter the GD with an example i had written..it goes on..we all just rephrase the same lines and say them again and again...Moderator realizes that its high time he ends the disucussion and obliges us!
Interview: I enter the room..before i sit down comes the first question..he asks about crammers rule, applications, descartes principle, linear programming, simplex algorithm, primal and dual solutions, graphical solutions...
then after a while the other interviwer asks me about why MBA?, hobbies...T20 and test cricket comparisons...blah blah..why Cognizant pays soo less to people?? blah blah...End of the IIM L torture.. :P
IIM K: 5th March @ IIM B
GD: About Tiger Preservation and related stuff.the group fantastically starts talking about terrorism within 5 mins of discussion!! :P Somehow normalcy returns and we are back on track...I made some 5-6 points, which were decently taken by the group
Interview: Starts with basketball...how does it move...explanation about Newtons laws with lots of cross questioning..how does a human eye see a basketball...why cant i see an electron...how can i locate an electron...what is the size and mass of an electron...who discvovered it...heisenburgs uncertainity principle... (by this time i feel i'd be obliged if they just ask me to leave)...then the other guy takes over...asks me how does a merchant banker determine the price band of an IPO..I try explaining for 5 mins...they listen and say its all wrong..and merchant bankers never use such methods..then i am asked about beta coefficients of some stocks and how are they calculated...
The worst interview ever!!!Easily...I feel i have just wasted money by attending this interview
IIM C: 14th March in B'lore
GD: It is a case study about some organization facing a bill of reservation in a state where it has major operations...What should it do...
I was all charged up after my dismal performance in my last GD/PI and this saw me totally dominate the initial parts of the GD..I also came in again towards the end with some options :-)
Now after the GD i feel it would have been good if the GD had a higher weightage!! :-P
Interview: Started with Salsa...I told about why i learnt salsa..the origin of the dance and all the things i knew about it...Then they ask me" what city would i choose if my frnd wants to invest in starting an IT company in India and why?"..I answer this and give my reasons...they cross question on a couple more criteria...i answer...Then..about Cricket...Recent success of Praveen Kumar...i discuss him as a bowler and the way he got his wickets...Then they ask me about the books i read...I say Ayn Rand and Malcom Gladwell...one interviewer says good and asks me to read The Kite Runner..i am happy..just then the other one says...thats all u read?..and in a responce...i blurt out Paulo Coelho..and a round of firing about the themes and underlying reasons about his novels..i wasnt abl to answer a couple here... Then i was asked about a reason other than the Sub Prime Crisis that is affecting the global econmy...answer this..with some cross questioning and i cant answer a couple of questions here too...
Thats it...End of Interview...
Well...I hope that i make it to some good B school...
Ohh...Btw i think i have been shortlisted for IIM Shillong GD/PI also :-) I dunno how keen i am on this but it never hurts to have another option in hand...
More laters...
From - Your friendly neighbourhood B-school aspirant :-)
Ross: Rejected
Duke: Rejected
Darden: Wait listed
NUS: Shortlisted for interview - Interviewed - Waitlisted
I was asked about my Job profile...i started talking...felt very weird...there was no response from the other end...in between i thought that the call got disconnected also :-(...somehow completed the answer...but i wasn't comfortable with this way of interview at all... Then i was asked about the challenges i face..i talk...am cut half way and asked some thing about American healthcare..i asnwer...then they ask me about an asian business leader that i admire...i think think...and talk about the founder of Toyota...and talk a couple of lines about lean manufacturing and 5 why analysis which he came up with...thats it...15 min and end of interview... and they waitlist me..I have heard that they waitlist evryone after a certain date coz they are not sure of the numbr of admits they give...
I am not at all happy with the admission process followed here...There have been people who applied after me and have admits before i have been interviewed too!!! Thats very unfair to say the least...
In fact I am disappointed with the way in which all the US B schools handle the admissions process...They do not give any kind of an status update till the very last minute...they hardly ever respond to the e mails in time...the interview calls are chaotically given...the responses always say things like" as we have had unprecedented number of applicants this year.....blah blah..." WTF!!! I dont care how many people have applied...Is it even my headache...But when this XYZ b school takes 180 off $'s as application fees i feel they have an obligation to atleast keep me updated about what is happening with my application...and finally...If a school cannot manage its application process...it doesnt show too well about the kind of managers that it will churn out...Atleast a B school has to manage the application procedure better than other institutions...but as it turns out the converse is true more often than not...
IIM I: GD and Interview (12th Feb @ IIM B)
GD was a case study of a person who wants his company to change its age old strategy to reap benefits in the current scenario, but his boss is a traditional fool who fails to understand his juniors suggestions... I did well...Spoke reasonably well and spoke good amount of sense..
Interview started with thermodynamics and moved to non-conventional sources of energy..then went to my hobbies...IPL vs ICL..What would i do if i were Mukesh Ambani...blah blah... and then to stock markets...
IIM L: GD and Interview (23rd Feb @ B'lore)
Essay writing topic: Men without deeds are like a garden full of weeds (WTF!!!)
I scratch my head and try thinking...I try this exerciss for a minute and realise that its no use and just start putting down on paper whatever comes to my head..I use all examples that come to my mind..Mhmd.Yousif...gramin bank..Al Gore..Climate change...Ratan tata...Nano....and then i start digressing (just like my blogs) into more of a lecture mode (Rajni would know a lot about this :-P) and instruct the teachers, studnts and the entire community at large...make weird analogies between garden and human mind...talk about human value system...and time's up..
GD: We were supposed to discuss about the same topic (man...this is getting too much for me)...Some guy starts off in a tangential manner...and i am too bored already to bring him in the right direction...a minute passes by and people are talking like politicians...i draw up all my patience and composure and enter the GD with an example i had written..it goes on..we all just rephrase the same lines and say them again and again...Moderator realizes that its high time he ends the disucussion and obliges us!
Interview: I enter the room..before i sit down comes the first question..he asks about crammers rule, applications, descartes principle, linear programming, simplex algorithm, primal and dual solutions, graphical solutions...
then after a while the other interviwer asks me about why MBA?, hobbies...T20 and test cricket comparisons...blah blah..why Cognizant pays soo less to people?? blah blah...End of the IIM L torture.. :P
IIM K: 5th March @ IIM B
GD: About Tiger Preservation and related stuff.the group fantastically starts talking about terrorism within 5 mins of discussion!! :P Somehow normalcy returns and we are back on track...I made some 5-6 points, which were decently taken by the group
Interview: Starts with basketball...how does it move...explanation about Newtons laws with lots of cross questioning..how does a human eye see a basketball...why cant i see an electron...how can i locate an electron...what is the size and mass of an electron...who discvovered it...heisenburgs uncertainity principle... (by this time i feel i'd be obliged if they just ask me to leave)...then the other guy takes over...asks me how does a merchant banker determine the price band of an IPO..I try explaining for 5 mins...they listen and say its all wrong..and merchant bankers never use such methods..then i am asked about beta coefficients of some stocks and how are they calculated...
The worst interview ever!!!Easily...I feel i have just wasted money by attending this interview
IIM C: 14th March in B'lore
GD: It is a case study about some organization facing a bill of reservation in a state where it has major operations...What should it do...
I was all charged up after my dismal performance in my last GD/PI and this saw me totally dominate the initial parts of the GD..I also came in again towards the end with some options :-)
Now after the GD i feel it would have been good if the GD had a higher weightage!! :-P
Interview: Started with Salsa...I told about why i learnt salsa..the origin of the dance and all the things i knew about it...Then they ask me" what city would i choose if my frnd wants to invest in starting an IT company in India and why?"..I answer this and give my reasons...they cross question on a couple more criteria...i answer...Then..about Cricket...Recent success of Praveen Kumar...i discuss him as a bowler and the way he got his wickets...Then they ask me about the books i read...I say Ayn Rand and Malcom Gladwell...one interviewer says good and asks me to read The Kite Runner..i am happy..just then the other one says...thats all u read?..and in a responce...i blurt out Paulo Coelho..and a round of firing about the themes and underlying reasons about his novels..i wasnt abl to answer a couple here... Then i was asked about a reason other than the Sub Prime Crisis that is affecting the global econmy...answer this..with some cross questioning and i cant answer a couple of questions here too...
Thats it...End of Interview...
Well...I hope that i make it to some good B school...
Ohh...Btw i think i have been shortlisted for IIM Shillong GD/PI also :-) I dunno how keen i am on this but it never hurts to have another option in hand...
More laters...
From - Your friendly neighbourhood B-school aspirant :-)
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